[Opinion] Burning Ice

I first came across the Bermuda Triangle Mystery through a comic book in my childhood. The Bermuda Triangle, a stretch of water between Puerto Rico, Bermuda and Florida, was considered one of the biggest mysteries of our time because a number of ships disappeared in the area without a trace, including a French vessel in 1840 and a Japanese vessel in 1925. Although the Bermuda Triangle has been a popular subject of science fiction films and novels, this great mystery may soon be unlocked.

Recent seabed explorations have found a large amount of methane hydrate buried in the area. Scientists say a huge amount of methane gas is produced when the temperature of the seawater goes up, and this phenomenon can decrease the buoyancy of passing-by vessels, potentially subverting or sucking vessels deep into the sea. In fact, a number of pilots confirmed that they saw a large amount of methane gas being emitted in that area.

Methane hydrate is produced when methane is trapped inside water molecules in a low-temperature and high-pressure environment. Although it is a type of ice that looks similar to dry ice, it is called “burning ice,” since the ice flares up when ignited. Methane hydrate has a high energy efficiency. One cubic meter of methane hydrate can produce 172 cubic meters of methane gas when it is decomposed. In addition, it not only emits less carbon dioxide than coal and oil, but also boasts a vast reserve. Some believe that the 21st Century will be the era of methane hydrate, assuming that the 19th Century was the era of coal and the 20th Century was the era of oil.

Countries like the U.S. and Japan have even adopted special laws to promote methane hydrate explorations and are developing advanced drilling technologies. Methane hydrate is also connected to Japan’s claim on Dokdo. An oil field development team of the Korean government successfully extracted methane hydrate from the East Sea last week, making Korea the fifth country to have excavated methane hydrate, following the U.S., Japan, India and China. It is, however, difficult to develop methane hydrate as methane evaporates in the process of excavating. Starting now, Korea must enter the technology race for commercializing this magical substance.

Chung Sung-hee, Editorial Writer, shchung@donga.com